This year’s World Igbo Day, 29 September, held in remembrance of the mass killing of Igbo resident in the North in the counter-coup of 1966, which culminated in the Nigerian Civil War, was remarkable in several ways.
One, it coincided with the Eid-el-Fitri, the festival marking the end of the Ramadan fasting season for Muslims, the dominant religion in the North. Two, a Yoruba man, Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State, was not only invited to deliver a lecture but was honoured with the title of Enyi Di na Mba of Ndigbo – that is, Friend of the Igbo in a foreign land – at the palace of Igwe Julius Nnaji, the Odenigbo II of Nike, Enugu.
The most remarkable feature of the event, organised by Ohaneze Ndigbo, the apex socio-cultural organisation of the Igbo and tagged Ofu obi, Ofu onu (one heart, one voice), however, was the return of peace to the body after five years of internal wrangling which saw the exit of Prof. Joe Irukwu as President-General, and Col. Joe Achuzia (retd) as Secretary-General of the group.
“It was a huge success after five years of wrangling,” said Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, chairman of the organising committee. To lay credence to the settlement, all the five South-East governors expressed solidarity with the incumbent leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo headed by Dr. Dozie Ikedife.
As a mark of appreciation for their significant contribution to the resolution of the crisis, Ohaneze honoured Rear-Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (retd), Senator Uche Chukwumerije, the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe; the Asagba of Asaba, Prof Chike Edozien; His Royal Majesty Desmond Oguguo, Chief Christian Onoh, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Chief John Nwodo, Ezeogo Anaghara, Senator Ofia Nwali, Chief Jerome Udoji and Onyeso Nwachukwu.
The event was not without its moments of excitement and humour. Notable was when a peaceful protest by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, was hijacked by Biafran war veterans whose war songs rent the air around Okpara Square, venue of the occasion, evoking deep emotions. MASSOB also carried placards condemning Chief Chekwas Okorie, embattled factional chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, who allegedly called the movement a fraud in an interview he recently granted a national daily. Nwodo, however, doused the tension created by the protest when he called MASSOB “our people’s pressure group”.
Reported By Jude Orji.
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